


Long Road to Get There

by theron09



Category: Leverage
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-22
Updated: 2012-06-22
Packaged: 2017-11-13 13:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theron09/pseuds/theron09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes a while for Quinn and Eliot to get their act together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Road to Get There

Title: Long Road to Get There  
Fandom: Leverage  
Pairing: Eliot/Quinn  
Rating: PG-13  
Warnings: Vague season four spoilers, AU from the end of S4  
Word Count: 3237  
Time Spent: 2hrs 45 minutes  
Summary: It takes a while for Quinn and Eliot to get their act together.  
A/N: Written as part of challenge one at [](http://leverageland.livejournal.com/profile)[**leverageland**](http://leverageland.livejournal.com/). 

 

  
Quinn realizes he wants to date Eliot Spencer in the middle of a bank robbery. For once, Quinn isn’t the one committing a crime. Instead, he’s watching the news and the story comes up. The presenter tells him there’s a cop inside as well as the civilians and a photo of Eliot flashes onto the screen. Quinn’s half-way towards the bank before he remembers there’s nothing he can do that Nate Ford and his team won’t already be doing and turns the car around. He’s back in his motel room when he realises he’d acted without thinking, every instinct driving himself towards helping – protecting – Eliot. That’s when he figures it out – two work interactions and one semi-awkward beer out together and he wants to date Eliot freaking Spencer. Not even just casually but in the rush-into-a-dangerous-situation-for-him kind of a way. He’s so screwed.

He doesn’t do anything about it. Getting involved with another Hitter always has problems; being hired to kill each other, for one. Things can get a little messy. The situation with Eliot’s even more complicated because he’s working with a team who are caught between sides, doing good things by breaking the law. So Quinn does what any other Hitter would do; he leaves town. It’s not like he’s into the whole commitment thing anyway.

Six weeks later, he’s sampling room service in a five star hotel in New York when an item on the news catches his eye. Some big CEO has been revealed to be corrupt and he _thinks_ he just spots Alec Hardison in the background of one of the shots. It’s something he’s never really cared about before – these sorts of guys are part of the reason he stays in business – but he smiles and tries to convince himself it’s for another victory for Eliot and his team rather than just because he’s been reminded of Eliot.

It’s five months after Quinn helped the team out with Dubenich and Latimer when he sees Eliot again. Back in Boston for a job, the circumstances aren’t exactly fit for romance. He’s been working a lot of jobs lately, more than he should be, and he’s tired when the security guard – ex-military, well-trained and still physically fit – catches him by surprise with a good right cross that makes Quinn’s head hit the doorframe with a loud thump. Once he’s made sure the guard is unconscious, more painfully than perhaps necessary, he grabs the item he was hired to retrieve and leaves quickly. He’d intended to leave town straight away but his head is bleeding and he’s concussed and even he realises he needs to rest for a night. He has no room booked and he’s spend all his money getting the location of the item so he does the last thing he’d planned on doing when he took the job in Boston and heads for McRory’s.

The bar is quiet when Quinn walks inside and he’s glad; it means there’s no real noise, only the murmuring of the regulars and the soft music in the background. Eliot’s sitting at a table in the corner with a beer in front of him, looking so relaxed that Quinn almost doesn’t want to disturb him. He does, though; making a beeline for the table, he grins as soon as he knows Eliot’s spotted him. He goes to slide into the seat across from Eliot but the other hitter shakes his head and stands up, picks up his beer and gestures for him to follow. Quinn does, walks silently behind Eliot until they’re upstairs in Nate’s apartment.

“There’s just me around tonight.” Eliot leans back against the kitchen counter, eyes never leaving him. “The others are busy.”

He shrugs, tries to sound casual when he replies. “I didn’t really come here to see them.”

“So why did you?”

“I’m a little concussed, not sure I’m thinking straight.”

Eliot laughs at that. “Do you ever?”

“Sure, I’m usually pretty sensible, actually.” He really does feel quite concussed, though, and he thinks if he stays standing much longer he’ll start to sway so he pulls out a stool and perches on it. “How are things with you?”

“About the same. You still haven’t answered my question – why are you _here_? Concussed or not, you could have gone somewhere else.”

It’s natural for Eliot to be suspicious; Quinn completely understands the reasons for that. But it still niggles to hear the slightly accusatory tone aimed at him. “Look, I didn’t have a room booked or anything, okay? I figured it’d be okay if I crashed with you for a night – you do owe me a favour, after all.”

“That’s what you’re going to do with the favour? I owe you a debt – you could ask me to help you with a job, get you out of trouble but instead you’re going to use it up on this, a sleepover?”

“Like I said, I’m concussed.”

Eliot crosses his arms. “Quinn, we aren’t friends.”

He sits in silence for a moment, mulling that over and then nods. “Okay. I kind of thought we were on our way to being friends but okay, if you’re still in denial that’s fine.” He wonders briefly what Eliot would do if he knew how many times Quinn had fantasised about him over the last five months and decides it’s best not to mention that for now.

“You thought we were friends?”

Making a decision, Quinn stands up. “It’s fine, Spencer. I don’t expect anything from you. Don’t worry, I won’t be calling in that favour.” He starts heading towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

He turns to look at Eliot. “I don’t know, I’ll probably hotwire a car and leave town.”

“But you’re concussed.”

He smirks before opening the door and calls back over his shoulder, “I’ll cope”, before leaving. He’s not really sure why he’d expected anything else.

~~

As stubborn as he is, Quinn’s always known when to give up so he forgets about have any sort of relationship – friendship or otherwise - with Eliot Spencer. He goes about his business as usual, flirts with lots of people and, if he sometimes wonders what it would have been like to kiss the other hitter, well, he’s only human.

It’s coming up to Christmas and he’s in New York visiting his cousin Neal – the only family he has left that matters – and he’s feeling pretty good about where he’s at. The money’s been coming in well lately, lots of successful jobs under his belt, and he’s at the point where he can start turning jobs down instead of taking every dirty job that gets asked of him. Even Neal’s remarked that he seems happier, more at ease, than the last time they saw each other.

They’re at the mall, getting a present for Neal’s sort of FBI partner, when he spots Sophie Devereaux. When he points her out to Neal, he laughs at his cousin’s reaction and then at his jealousy when he tells him he’s worked with her. He’s debating whether or not to try and introduce Neal to her when he sees the fear – genuine as far as he can tell – enter her expression. Scanning the area where they are, he spots Parker near a shop entrance, Hardison undercover as a security guard, and Nate weaving his way through the crowd towards Sophie.  
Eliot’s nowhere in sight.

He moves before he even thinks about it, heading straight towards Ford. As he gets closer to them, he can tell that the fear he saw from Sophie is genuine because while she might be that good of an actor, he doesn’t think Nate is and he looks worried.

“Anything I can do?” The offer goes against pretty much every principle he’s ever lived by; don’t get involved in someone else’s con, don’t make open offers, don’t go out on a limb for another hitter because chances are they’ll turn around and kill you. But it’s Eliot and, his own guidelines or not, Quinn’s never been the type to take notice of the rules.

Nate doesn’t seem to know what to say but Sophie flashes Quinn a knowing look that makes him wonder just how obvious he’s been and nods. “Eliot was meant to be meeting someone in the staff car park and he’s gone off comms, the last thing we heard was him fighting.

“Have you still got a con to run?”

“Yes, but-”

“Then run it. I’ll get Eliot.” He takes off before they can say anything else, glad that he’s been to this mall before and knows his way around. Neal shouts a warning to be careful after him and he raises a hand in acknowledgement before speeding up. Eliot’s good at what he does but it doesn’t mean he’s invincible and Quinn knows the amount of time it takes him to reach the parking lot could make a difference.

It takes him two and a half minutes. Even from the stairwell he can hear sounds of fighting that are actually comforting because they mean that Eliot’s still conscious. Usually, he’d take a moment to assess the situation but this is an emergency so he bursts through the door at a run and heads straight into the middle of the fight.

He sees that Eliot’s still standing but his aim has deteriorated and his opponents are getting more punches in than would normally get by his defence. Quinn forces himself to ignore that for the time being and focuses on taking down the other three men not engaged with Eliot first. The ease with which he dispatches them makes him think that, rather than being better than Eliot, they’ve simply caught him by surprise and the fact they’ve played dirty makes him angry as he turns to help Eliot.

Eliot’s on his knees now, struggling to stand up as the two guys he’s been fighting continue to punch him. They’re so busy hurting Eliot that they haven’t even noticed that Quinn’s taken their pals down and he smirks as he moves up behind them, hitting one over the back of the head.

It’s a quick and messy fight but it’s effective. The first guy goes down quite easily, the second puts up more of a fight but Eliot eventually sticks his leg out and trips him up, causing the man to fall back and knock himself unconscious.

He takes a second to catch his breath before offering a hand to Eliot and pulling him up into a standing position. “You good?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Eliot walks a few paces and bends down to pick a briefcase up from the ground. “They tried to double-cross me, had guys hidden in one of the cars.”

“That just isn’t very nice.” Not totally by accident, Quinn steps on the hand of one of the guys as they make their way towards the door.

“No, it – what are you doing here?”

He grins. “Christmas shopping, lucky for you.”

“I’d have been fine.”

“That’s gratitude for you.”

Eliot looks a little sheepish. “Sorry – thanks, man. Really.”

“No problem – couldn’t have my favourite hitter-turned-Robin-Hood get seriously damaged, could I?” He wants to say something else, even if he doesn’t know what, but he doesn’t get a chance as Nate and his team come walking towards them with. Neal’s following behind them, looking amused more than anything else, and Quinn takes a step away from Eliot, putting a bit more distance between them because he hadn’t even noticed that their shoulders had been brushing.

“I introduced myself.” Neal smirks at him but looks him up and down at the same time and Quinn knows he’s checking to make sure he’s uninjured. “You know, seeing as you didn’t.”

Quinn nods. “Well, you’re big enough to make friends by yourself now, old man.”

“I’m only a few years older than you.”

“Well, a few years is all it takes.” He looks around when Eliot clears his throat. “Yeah?”

“We need to take off now before our mark realises what’s happened.”

“Right, sure.” He holds out his hand to shake Eliot’s. “Take care.”

Eliot grips his hand tightly, thumb resting against his wrist. “You too – and, hey, I owe you another favour now.”

“Forget it, it’s fine. I wanted to help.”

“I guess that’s what friends are for, huh?” Eliot gives his hand a last squeeze and leaves go, thumping him on the back before turning and walking away.

Neal nudges him. “Want to explain what all that was about?”

“That was Eliot Spencer, another hitter. I’ve worked with him and his team a few times – they’re…different to other conmen, they work for the good guys.”

“You don’t usually work with other people. I mean, it took a while for me to convince you to pull that job in Chicago with me.”

“Yeah, well, it’s complicated.” Neal’s always been good at reading him and this is something personal, something he’s not quite ready to share yet. “Are we going to get something for Burke or what?”

Neal goes along with his change of subject but Quinn knows his cousin won’t leave it for long. The problem is, he’s not even sure himself of where he stands with Eliot, of whether he wants to be friends with the hitter or whether he wants more. Committed relationships have never been his style –his job didn’t allow for them – but he’s not sure he’d be able to just stop at a casual fling with Eliot. He’s not really sure of anything. All he knows is that it was instinct, not his head, that had driven him to run to help Eliot in the parking lot and that Eliot’s thumb had felt gentle against his wrist and that he has no idea what to do with that information.

~~

As it turns out, Eliot’s the one to make the next move. It’s a fortnight later, in the first week of the New Year, and Quinn’s checking out of a hotel in Wisconsin when his cell starts to ring. He answers it without looking at the caller ID, expecting it to be either Neal or a client.

“Can you come to Boston?” Eliot’s tone of voice doesn’t sound urgent but the request is genuine enough.

“I can.” He steps outside, tugging his duffel a little higher up on his shoulder. “Whether I will is a different matter – why do you want me to?”

Eliot snorts. “Honestly? I’m not really sure. I just – do you want to hang out?”

“Hang out? You mean like friends?” He smirks despite the nerves he’s suddenly feeling.

“Maybe.” There’s silence for a moment and then Eliot speaks again, quieter. “Maybe like something else. I don’t know.”

The confusion is something Quinn can understand and he’s glad to find out it’s not a one-sided thing. “We could wait and see how it turns out when I come to Boston?”

“You’re coming?”

“Sure, I’ve got nowhere better to be right now. It’s not really a busy time of year for hitters – all the people who’d hire us are having nice cosy get-togethers with their families. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I remember. Okay then, I’ll see you soon.”

He hangs up before he says anything silly, wonders what he’s going to do for a moment and then does what he always does when he needs advice. He calls Neal.

~~

Quinn doesn’t think he’s ever been quite as nervous in Boston as he is when he pulls up outside Eliot’s apartment the day after their phone call. As per Neal’s instructions, he’s wearing the new shirt his cousin gave him for Christmas – he can tell it’s a better quality than he usually wears because of the way the material moves against his skin – and he hopes Neal’s right about it making him look more confident.

On the journey over he’d told himself not to treat this thing too seriously, to just turn up and take it as it happened, but now he’s here he’s forced to admit to himself that this is important. Whatever happens now is going to have an effect on his life one way or the other.  
Trying to recall Neal’s advice –be himself but don’t be too defensive, don’t scare Eliot off by doing anything stupid, make sure to relax and be honest– Quinn makes his way up the stairs and knocks on Eliot’s door. There’s a horrible moment of silence where Quinn thinks Eliot’s changed his mind and gone out to avoid him and then he hears movement from inside.

When Eliot opens the door, he looks wary but he’s smiling which is, Quinn figures, probably a good sign. The hitter steps back to let him enter and he walks inside Eliot’s home for the first time. It’s not usually a hitter’s way to be settled – whenever Quinn’s actually had a place of his own over the years, it’s always been basic, sparsely furnished – but Eliot’s place, like Eliot, is different. It’s not cluttered, doesn’t even seem like Eliot spends a lot of time there, but there are plants all around the room and there are books on the shelf. The sword on the wall holds Quinn’s attention for a few moments until Eliot brushes past him and he realises he’s been staring.

“Nice place you’ve got here.” It sounds so cliché that his embarrassment kicks up a notch and he takes the beer Eliot holds out to him gratefully because if he’s drinking it means he can’t say anything else silly.

“Thanks. Have a good Christmas?”

“Pretty good, yeah. I spent it with my cousin.”

“The guy from the mall?”

He nods, following Eliot as he heads towards the couch. They both sit down, knees touching, and it’s already less awkward than the last beer they had together so Quinn relaxes a little. “That’s him. What about you? Were you working or-?”

“We had a few days off. I just spent most of them here, we don’t get a lot of time to rest.”  
Eliot shrugs. “We had Christmas dinner together, though – I made it for us.”

“You’ll have to cook for me some time.” He speaks before he really thinks and then, when he realises the implications of what he’s just said, wants to kick himself. “I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine. You’re right, I will have to.” Shifting on the couch, Eliot moves his free hand at the same time, bringing it down to rest on Quinn’s knee. “What do you like?”

He tries not to act like it’s a big deal but he knows his grin gives him away. “I’ll eat anything, I’m not fussy.”

“That’s good to know. Would you like that, then? Me cooking for you at some point.”

Bringing his hand down to cover Eliot’s, Quinn remembers Neal’s advice. “I’d really like that. This last year, I haven’t really known where I stood with you but now-” he trails off; he doesn’t want to push Eliot too much.

“Now?” Eliot turns his hand so their palms are touching, entwines their fingers and Quinn thinks maybe it’s Eliot’s way of telling him it’s okay, he can say what he wants to.

“Now it’s becoming clearer.”

It becomes clearer still when Eliot leans in and kisses him. As their lips touch, Quinn thinks maybe he could get used to this and then Eliot deepens the kiss and Quinn stops thinking about much at all.  



End file.
